How it All Started
by Jyo-Chan
Summary: It’s just a phase, or so he thought. But the real question is, will he just pretend it’s nothing and wait for it to blow over, or make something more out of it? Axel x Roxas. -Birthday dedication for Soraslilangel-


It's just a phase, or so he thought. But the real question is, will just pretend it's nothing and wait for it to blow over, or make something more out of it. Axel x Roxas. -Birthday dedication for Soraslilangel-

Here's to Jessie for her 16th birthday! Woot woot! Congratulations on your sweet sixteen! Hope you like! Lawls.

Thought I forgot huh? Muahahha! AS IF!

Warning - After like the third or fourth or fifth or sixth read-through of this, I realized they may or may not be a little OOC…But yeah, you'll see as you go on.

* * *

They've known each other since they were little kids. Roxas and Axel. Axel and Roxas. It all started back when they were in junior high school.

Their friendship started out weird enough, they first met in detention.

Axel for setting his horrible test grades on fire (nobody really had any idea how the red head managed to set it off, but a magnifying glass was involved) and Roxas got into a fist fight with the bully of the school. The blond managed to walk away with only a bruised cheek and sore knuckles while Seifer had a bleeding nose, a bruise that covered his eye and a couple of bite marks.

Roxas' reason for starting the fight was good enough, with the right intentions but with the wrong course of action. But rule number one, the golden rule, when dealing with Roxas; nobody mess with his family or cousins. His family which is his brother Sora, and his cousin named Naminé.

That includes no name-calling, no hair-pulling, no put-downs and no harassments and/or bullying.

It was an unwritten rule for everybody and anybody that wanted to be in Roxas' good graces. Good graces meaning no death glares and threats of being beaten to a bloody pulp.

"What're you in for?" the red head asked casually as he ignored the fifty lines that he was supposed to be doing in favor of balancing on two legs of the chair with his feet up on the desk. The teacher in charge went out for a while and told them to behave while she was gone.

It was just two students that needed looking after and discipline. Hardly troublesome enough to require _all_ of her attention.

The blond stared at the red head, took a moment to consider the question, turned back to his fifty lines which he was already half done with, then answered, "I beat the crap out of Seifer because he called pulled my cousin's ponytail."

It was then, a loud bang resounded through the room and the blond stared at the source of the noise which belonged to the red head who was now nursing the new injury on the back of his head in an almost fetal position.

Roxas held back a snicker and continued to watch the other student writhe and groan in pain. The ache in his cheek where he was punched was still sore, and it only allowed him to give a smirk at best.

After about half a minute, the red head gained back his composure and stood up from the ground to brush the invisible dust off, but there was a small tear of pain from the corner of his eye and a look of mixed embarrassment and anger.

"You beat Seifer up?" he looked up at the blond with a glare.

"Yeah, you got a problem with that?" he returned the glare with one of his own.

They stared at each other from different heights, the red head who was standing, and the blond who was sitting, before finally, the red head smiled and stuffed his hands into the pockets of his pants, "Damn, you got to him before I did."

Roxas was just about to open his mouth to say something when the door opened up and the teacher came back in with a hot cup of coffee, "What're you doing?" the brunette teacher whose hair was tied up in a tight bun asked sternly as she watched them through her thick rimmed black glasses.

"I fell out of my seat." The red head reasoned as he bent over to pick up the fallen chair.

"You'll do well to finish those lines if you want to leave for home." She instructed as she closed the door with a loud click and then sat back down at the desk in front of the classroom.

"Yes Miss." He sat back down, picked up the pencil and went back to scribbling out, 'I will not use a magnifying glass to burn my test paper.' He still had about forty more lines more to do.

Silence filled the room, punctuated with the occasional sips of coffee from their teacher and the incessant scribbling from both students.

"Hey. Psst." The red head tried to whisper as quietly as possible and leaned over to the blond just a little. "Psst."

The teacher was either deaf, or she really didn't care that the red head was talking when he wasn't suppose to.

"Psst!" he tried again.

"What?!" he returned the greeting with a harsh reply, never letting his eyes stray away. His fingers were starting to get a little sore as well, and the sting in his knuckles didn't abate.

"I'm Axel."

The blond looked up to the smiling red head and felt the corners of his lips tug into a small smile on its own accord, and then replied, not with a harsh whisper, but with warmth in his voice, "I'm Roxas."

"Don't make those lines turn from fifty to a hundred!" she raised her voice as a warning and both students turned their heads back to the work at hand and continued writing.

The smile never really went away, even five minutes after they last spoke. The reason was simple enough.

Roxas made his first friend. The first friend he had ever had in a really long time which does not include his family or relatives. And that friend was the red head named Axel who got into detention for burning his test grades with a magnifying glass.

* * *

As the years rolled by, Axel remained to be the only friend that Roxas really ever had. And you'd never see them apart, and if they were, one of them was always close by to provide back-up if needed.

Roxas liked to keep to himself, except when he was around Axel. So he didn't have many friends to call him own.

But Axel was like a social butterfly in a sort of odd way. He went with the strange crowd and got himself some strange friends.

It started in middle school when both Axel and Roxas were tossing each other notes from two different sides of the classroom (their science teacher got fed up with their antics and finally decided to separate them) when a new student came in through the door looking all worried and flustered.

He had a humiliated blush on his face as he shuffled up to the class teacher and handed a green slip over. The teacher read it once, surveyed the new student, surveyed the paper again then tossed it on his desk without much care then turned to the class, "It seems we have a new student joining us for the rest of the year." He then turned to the boy with the strange haircut and brilliant blue for eyes, "Introduce yourself."

The boy stuttered and stammered and forced himself to face the class but kept his eyes glued to the floor, "I'm-I'm Demyx…And…I…um…I'm Demyx…" he finished lamely and his blush grew as the class snickered and laughed at him.

Their science teacher rolled his eyes then sighed out irritably, "Lovely speech." He spoke sarcastically and the dirty haired blond turned into a deeper shade of red and looked almost ready to cry and bolt out of the room, "Take a seat next to…" cold, calculating green eyes surveyed the classroom before he finally decided, "Axel, the idiotic red head."

Said red head stood up from his chair and cried out indignantly.

The teacher ignored the red head then waved his hand in the boy's general direction, "That boy who just stood up, now get to your seat."

"Yes-sir." The new student managed out in a squeak and almost tripped over his footing before he got to his chair and plopped himself down on the free seat next to the red head, the seat that used to be occupied by a certain blond who was now on the other side of the room.

The class continued on and Axel and Roxas went back to tossing each other notes when the teacher wasn't looking.

* * *

"Did you see that new guy? He looked like he was about to run home." The blond laughed at the poor unfortunate boy of their previous class as he picked up his carton of juice and drank it through a red straw.

The red head laughed along with him, "Yeah, tell me about it. His face was redder than my hair!" he snorted out in laughter and picked up the peanut butter and jelly sandwich that his mother had packed for him. Just before he took a bite into his lunch, he spotted a familiar boy looking rather lost, "Hey look, there's…" there was a sudden lapse in intelligent, "What's his face name." he substituted lamely but Roxas turned his head and saw the topic of their conversation.

"Your memory sucks." The blond quirked up an eyebrow as he picked the pickles off the burger that he bought from the canteen. He got sick of eating roast beef sandwich and threw it out.

It's those cheap versions of roast beef that you get at the deli in the supermarkets.

"As if you could remember?" Axel retorted and he sank his teeth into his lunch and ripped a portion off with his teeth.

"His name is Demyx."

The red head rolled his eyes, "Don't know, don't care."

The blond continued to watch the other boy from a distance, "He looks a little lost." He started to feel a little sorry for the dirty haired blond who was getting pushed and shoved around and couldn't find a table to sit at.

"He's the new kid, probably from some other weird place or something."

"Probably." He shrugged and started to pick out the wilted lettuce and squashed tomatoes, leaving behind only the beef and cheese with tomato sauce and a smidgen of mustard in between two sesame buns.

They shared a moment of mutual silence while they ate their lunches and watched the new student from a safe distance.

Roxas didn't know what spurred Axel to act the way he did, but he couldn't help but offer a look of surprise when the red head suddenly called out to Demyx and invited him over to _their_ table.

"I thought you didn't care." Roxas quirked up an eyebrow in surprise.

The red head offered a nonchalant shrug and a mere grunt, "Changed my mind."

The dirty haired blond scurried over with a tray of food (a carton of milk, an orange and a chicken wrap) with a grateful smile on his face, "Thanks for inviting me." He spoke as he placed his food down and sat on the opposite side of the red head and the blond.

"So Dem, mind if I call you Dem?" the red head started as he tossed an apple in the air (he already scoffed down his sandwich) and caught it in the other hand.

"Not at all!" the dirty haired blond shook his head as he paused midway of pulling off the plastic wrap around his lunch.

"Anyways, so Dem, where did you come from?"

"Atlantic City."

"Las Vegas?" the red head asked and Roxas suppressed the urge to smack his forehead. Axel never really _did_ do well in geography. He always copied the blond.

Demyx laughed, "Close, but not quite."

As they talked, (and by they, it was meant to be just Demyx and Axel), the barriers that the dirty haired blond had prepared started to slowly come down and his bubbly personality surfaced.

They found that they had a lot in common. They liked all sorts of music, they both played guitar, and they both wanted to get tattoos and earrings one day.

As the time rolled by, Roxas found himself growing more and more impatient and angry at the dirty haired blond. The reason was unclear but there was just _something_ about Demyx that the blond just did not like.

And when a week of school passed, and Roxas found himself hanging out more around himself even though Axel and Demyx were still there, he knew the reason why he didn't like the dirty haired blond.

Demyx was slowly taking away his one and only friend that was Axel.

But it wasn't just Demyx either.

Eventually, Zexion came into the picture, introduced by the dirty haired blond himself, and soon after that, Larxene.

Demyx and Larxene had nothing in common as relatives. The only thing that matched about the two of them was the same shade of blue eyes and yellow hair.

Soon, all of Axel's time was occupied by the other three people and Roxas felt himself growing more and more distant with his one and only friend.

It's not like he never tried befriending those people, but it was just, everything they said, whatever came out of their mouths, he just found it obnoxious and annoying. He hated their voices, and even worse was when Axel laughed along with them with whatever joke was said.

Roxas got angry, quite often since they appeared in their lives. His temper flared and his fuse was short.

"Dude, what's up with you?" the red head asked when the blond suddenly snapped for no apparent reason one day and then just left the table in search of solitude. The red head, being the caring friend that he was, went straight after him and left Demyx and the others behind in the cafeteria to wonder and ponder on what they did to make Roxas blow up. Larxene actually couldn't care less and Zexion seemed nonchalant about everything.

"It's nothing." He muttered out as he continued walking. Not for a second did he think that Axel would buy that excuse.

"Nothing my ass, that's bullshit."

A teacher that had been nearby called out to the red head in a stern voice, "Axel! Detention after school!"

"Yeah, see you after Xaldin!" he threw a casual wave back to signal that he got the message, "Tell me what's wrong." He demanded.

"It's nothing alright?" he scowled and turned the corner.

"Don't fucking lie to me Roxas."

Another adult in the hallway overheard that particular bit of the conversation, "Axel! Detention!"

"Got it Leon!" he threw another wave back and fastened his pace, "What's up with you man? We hardly talk to each other anymore."

"Maybe because you're too _busy_ with your new friends." He spat out.

"What died and got shoved up your ass?"

Another teacher passed and another detention Axel got.

"Look," the blond halted his steps and the red head almost crashed into him, "Obviously, I bore you. So just go back to Demyx, Zexion and what's her face and leave me alone alright?"

"Why are you hatin' all of a sudden?"

"Be_cause_ Axel." He started and almost expected the red head to understand straight away. But the said person didn't and waited for the answer which Roxas refused to provide, "Forget it Axel." He shook his head and turned to walk away, "See you next class or something, I need to do homework."

A hand reached out and grabbed onto Roxas' wrist, "You're not leaving until you tell me what the fuck is wrong." He increased his grip on the blonds' wrist, "Yes, detention, I got it Cloud."

The taller blond raised an eyebrow in surprise but didn't press the issue and nodded his head before he walked away.

It took a few minutes for Roxas to gather his thoughts. He considered not telling Axel, his best friend, his only friend. But that alone was a good enough reason to spill.

Axel was his _only_ friend.

He kept his back to the red head as he spoke, "How many people do you see me hang around with?" he muttered out and felt vaguely ashamed of himself before he spat out, "And don't count _your _friends."

The grip on his wrist tightened and loosened repeatedly for a while before it was released. Roxas wasn't sure if he should be happy or sad.

"I'm sorry Rox, it's not that I don't like hanging out with you all the time, but…I don't know. It just happened." The red head reasoned with a voice filled with guilt.

Roxas knew he was just holding Axel back. Because, if the red head hadn't met Roxas in the first place, he was pretty sure that Axel would've been one of the most popular people around the school.

But still, he didn't know why, like Axel said, it just happened.

"Yeah, I know." The blond quietly sighed, "I'll see you in class, I forgot to do my stats homework last night." He reasoned and started his way towards the library. He hadn't expected Axel to follow though, "What're you doing?"

"Well, I was thinking of copying, you know, since I didn't do my homework either." He smiled wryly as he scratched his cheek.

"Axel, you _never_ do your homework in the first place."

The red head let out a laugh, a laugh that wasn't accompanied by two or three other voices, and Roxas felt a smile appear on his face. A smile that hadn't been on his face for a long time. Then he shook his head and started for the library again, "Come on, better hurry up or else you get another detention."

The red head hushed the blond by covering his mouth and started whispering very secretively, "Shh…don't tell them anything. I got four detentions at the same time for swearing, if all goes well, it'll only turn into one."

"Mmph?" he mumbled into the hand and quirked up an eyebrow.

"They won't be the wiser." He grinned as he released the blond and went on his merry way to the library.

Roxas released a sigh as he shook his head and walked after Axel. It's been a while since the two of them hung out one on one. And he was going to enjoy every minute of it.

* * *

The blond tried, really he did, but he just couldn't _connect_ with Demyx, Zexion or Larxene. They just…weren't his crowd of people to hang out with. But he was civilized towards them. More or less than he previously was.

He hated it when people approached him for something, like answers to a particular question or where he bought his clothes from or something rather.

He gave them his answer and they went on their merry way. Well, it was more like they scurried off before Roxas gave them a powerful glare.

He wasn't glaring though, he thought he looked pretty casual about the situation, but people just tend to blow things out of proportion like they always do.

When middle school finished and High school started, Roxas was still anti-social (to everybody but Axel) and Axel was still the social butterfly to attract the weird.

He sort of hated the way Axel easily interacted with other people. How he had so many friends while Roxas only had him to begin with.

It's not like Roxas never tried, but he always came off as the…scary but obnoxious type of person who couldn't care less.

When high school started, Axel took Roxas (only because Demyx sort of chickened out in the last minute) to a tattoo parlor to get a pair of earrings or two.

Axel decided to get three piercings done on each ear while Roxas only got one, and then just before they left, Axel decided that he wanted tattoos as well.

Roxas couldn't believe the idiotic actually decided to get tattoos on his face. His _face_.

Although once the redness and the swelling were gone, he looked pretty good with it. The tattoos gave him the mysterious and mischievous look about him.

Roxas found himself staring at Axel a lot after that. Whether it was because of the multiple earrings or the tattoos, he wasn't too sure. But he stared regardless.

"What? I got something on my face?" the red head asked as he started to wipe at his cheeks and his mouth area.

"No, it's nothing." He shook his head and returned to ignoring the red head and his group of friends which Axel had grown awfully close with. Roxas felt a small pang of jealously. Whether it was because of Axel or his friends, he wasn't too sure. But he felt jealous regardless.

Through the first few months of High school, Axel's circle of friends increased and doubled in size.

Zexion introduced Sai'x into the group, he was the new guy in town and they were in the same philosophy class.

Demyx introduced Xigbar, a guy who was in the same physical education class as himself. The only reason why the weird guy was introduced was because the other boy was a really great swimmer.

"Seriously, he looked like he teleported from one end of the pool to the other. It was _awesome_!" the dirty haired blond spoke in absolute awe and continued on rambling despite that only one or two people were listening to him.

Larxene eventually introduced her boyfriend into the group. A guy named Marluxia who could be mistaken as a…girly type of guy. Fruity perhaps?

"It's the hair, isn't it?" he asked and fought back a sigh.

"Oh no, it's not that." The red head spoke sarcastically and smirked, "It's the _pink_ shirt."

"Now, would you believe me if I said I was colorblind?" he tried to joke.

"Yeah, sure." The red head shrugged, "I'm colorblind too."

"Seriously?"

"No."

They burst out laughing and they got along well with each other. And Roxas found out that he might need to attend some anger management classes because he squashed the milk carton in his hands and left the mess on the table for the janitor to clean.

* * *

Roxas was on the way home from school and Axel tagged along saying that he needed to pick up his grades for maths and needed some help. Somewhere along the way, the blond remembered that he left his science book behind in the classroom then cursed as he backtracked to school again.

The school was close to almost empty by the time they got there. A few students were still walking around the hallway, either coming out from detention, or extra classes, or clubs or whatever.

They approached the classroom door and Roxas pulled the handle and pushed the door opened to step inside, but stopped short at the unbelievable sight.

The teacher's desk was occupied by two people kissing and touching each other.

Roxas blushed furiously as he made a scramble for his book on his desk not two tables away from the front of the room.

"Wooo! Go Demyx!" he blew a whistle as an encouraging gesture and watched as his two friends made out with each other until he was forcibly dragged out with a tug of his jacket.

Once the door was slammed behind them, Axel made another long whistle, "Damn, I never would've thought."

"Axel!" he cried out in shock, his cheeks still stained a deep pink.

"What? That's hot."

He had no idea what part of two guys making out were hot, but he started to question Axel's…orientation of sorts.

And the day after that, when he saw Demyx and Zexion, he felt strangely uncomfortable around them. Were those two already like this before? Or did it just happen yesterday? He wasn't too sure, but he decided to stay a good distance away from them.

Axel seemed pretty comfortable with it. Either because he already knew, or he didn't mind so much.

Roxas found himself thinking about Demyx and Zexion a lot more, and sometimes, Axel would overtake his thoughts, and sometimes, they got a little out of hand and left him feeling a little embarrassed.

And _then_, he started to question his _own_ orientation.

But he decided to keep it a secret. It's not like he could talk to anybody. No way.

Axel was his only friend, and _he_ was the source of his weird thoughts.

It's not like he could talk to his brother either. Sora went to another high school, Destiny High, instead of Oblivion High with Roxas.

Naminé went to Twilight High to pursue her love of the arts.

He only just realized that he had nobody, nobody at all, to talk to. And that thought depressed him.

Somebody tapped him on the shoulder and when he turned around, he almost bolted out of his seat in shock, "Hey, sorry about yesterday, I hope we didn't scar you." Demyx smiled.

He let out an awkward laugh, "Scar me? That? Not at all!" He almost smacked himself in the face for sounded like an idiot.

"You seem a little out of it, wanna talk about it?" he asked as he took a seat by the shaken up blond who screamed in his head for some space.

"Talk? About that? Why would I wanna talk about that?" his eye twitched at his idiocy but the dirty haired blond merely laughed at Roxas' reaction.

"I dunno, just anything, we can talk about anything." He offered with a shrug.

"…Anything?" he asked with a hint of confusion, nobody had ever asked if he wanted to talk about anything before. Not even Axel. And Axel was his best friend.

"Yeah, anything you want. You know, since we've been friends for a while now."

"We've been friends?" he repeated, 'Well that's funny, because I never considered _you_ to be my friend. Not at all. Not once.' He thought to himself.

"Yeah, we _are_ friends, right?"

"…I guess." Well, it's not like he could say no. Demyx was a sensitive kind of guy.

"Cool, so what cha wanna talk about? What's in that head of yours?" he smiled as he leaned closer and donked the blond on his head.

"Well, for starters, I want you to stay outta my personal bubble."

The dirty haired blond was taken aback, only for a moment before he burst out laughing.

* * *

It was after school, and Roxas and Axel were on the way back to his home. This time, they went over to the red head's humble abode. Ever since high school started, Axel stopped copying, but he asked for the blonds' help. A lot. Not that Roxas ever minded.

"Hey," the red head nudged the blond, "I'm glad that you're talking to Demyx without biting his head off." Axel joked as he ruffled the blonds' hair.

Roxas smacked the hand away and tried to style his hair back to normal, "Yeah well…"

"Does he have your approval?"

"He's a nice guy."

"Cool."

Roxas gave a small grunt as they walked, and every once in a while, the blond would get a side glance of the red head. He looked really nice from a side view.

And then Axel turned his head and caught the blond staring, "What's up?"

"Nothing." He shook his head and stared at the path way ahead of him and kept his eyes glued to the pavement. Not catching the quirk of the eyebrow that the red head gave but it was left at that.

They reached home, Roxas helped Axel with his homework and all was well again.

It was only after the incident at the science classroom that Demyx started talking to Roxas a lot more. And at first, Roxas was a bit uncomfortable at the close proximity, but after a while, he sort of warmed up to the bubbly blond. More or less. Since he still snapped at him every once in a while.

Like, when his personal bubble was popped with a nudge of a finger.

But despite the horrible intrusions of his personal space every once in a while, he soon came to think of Demyx as a friend. His second friend.

But just because he thought of Demyx as a friend, didn't mean that he was gonna start telling him everything. No way, he still preferred to talk to Axel about stuffs and things.

But at least now, Roxas had the option of talking to someone else if he needed to.

"So…" he had planned this conversation in his head over and over and over again. He could only hope that it goes as planned, "You're gay?"

What? It's not like people would judge him.

Larxene's off somewhere with Marluxia. Sai'x was in some sort of class. Xigbar went to god knows where and it just left Demyx and Roxas at the table.

"I guess, yeah." The dirty haired blond shrugged as he sipped his carton of milk.

"How did you find out?"

Demyx opened his mouth to speak, but no words came out and his mouth was left hanging for flies and insects to go into, "I…have no idea. Guess it sort of happened, you know?"

'No I don't know,' he yelled in his head and rolled his eyes, "Not really, no."

"Well, I don't know to be honest." He looked over in the distance where Axel and Zexion stood in line to get some grub, "I mean, I just started thinking about him, in a less than friendly way. You know?"

'No, I fucking _don't_ know.' He forced himself to take a deep breath before he trusted his voice to speak again, "Not really."

"I mean…I don't know. It's like one day, I think of Zexion as a friend, and then the next, I start developing some feelings for him."

"Just like that?"

"Just like that." He smiled fondly and he turned his head away from the two other people who were making their way back to the table to the blond, "What's up?"

"Nothing. I was just curious, that's all." He decided to drop it. Mainly because the source of his weird thoughts were coming towards them.

He decided that his weird thoughts were probably just a 'phase' in his life. You know? Or maybe not, but whatever.

It'll probably pass over in time.

But as their freshman year ended, Roxas found that he still couldn't stop staring at Axel.

And then, well into their sophomore year, he started to realize that maybe these weird thoughts of Axel were probably something more than _just_ weird thoughts. Especially when he woke up in the middle of the night, drenched in sweat and with a _slight_ problem somewhere down there. You know where.

Of course, at first, he denied it. He wasn't gay. But then again, now that he thought about it, he probably wasn't straight either. Since, he had never, for once in his young life, ever thoughts about girls. Which was sort of weird for guys his age.

But he was sure he wasn't gay either. Because he didn't ogle at cute guys that walked passed. It was just Axel. Only Axel. His _best_ friend.

He shouldn't be thinking about his best friend in this kind of way right?

So he panicked, and denied it.

Denied it, denied it, denied it like there was no tomorrow.

That was what he was feeling. Complete denial.

Axel sort of noticed that Roxas had been a little 'out' of it recently, so as a friend, a good friend, it was his duty to ask him what was wrong.

"Nothing's wrong." The blond replied a little too hastily.

"Oh really now?" he wasn't convinced and he quirked up an eyebrow at the blond.

Roxas couldn't tear his eyes away from that piercing on the red head's eyebrow. It looked _really_ nice on him. He got it recently, about a couple of weeks ago in the weekend.

"Yeah, really. It's just exam stress, you know?" he lied, and he felt horrible for lying to his friend. His _best_ friend.

"Oh yeah, I know what you mean, but just chill. It's only practice. Nothing to worry yourself over." He laughed as he gave a hearty smack to the blonds' back.

The blond let out a nervous laugh, "Yeah, you're right."

He continued to deny his feelings for Axel, but he figured that he shouldn't keep this to himself, so it was time for another chat with Demyx.

"How did you react when you first found out?" he had asked out of the blue.

They were sitting on the table alone again.

And at first, the dirty haired blond just stared, before it slowly clicked in his head, "Oh, you mean, the thing with me and Zex?"

"Yeah."

"Well…I guess I sort of freaked. You know?"

'I guess, I sort of know.' the blond would've shrugged in slight understanding, but he remained nonchalant.

"Because I've always thought of Zexion as a friend, and then I suddenly start to like him as _more_ than a friend, and I just…denied it. Because I didn't want to lose Zexion, because he's a really good friend."

Roxas nodded his head in understanding, and then another question was asked before he even thought about it, "How long?"

"About two years or so."

"That long?" he looked at Demyx in complete disbelief.

"Yeah. I spent two years worrying about what Zexion would think of me." He turned his head and found the slate haired boy standing in line waiting to be served along with a red head.

"But you did it though."

"Yeah, I did, and it was worth it. Because I have never been happier in my life." He turned his head back to the blond and smiled a smile that was the most honest, and the happiest he had ever seen.

Roxas wondered if he should just stop denying and go with the flow until Demyx asked, "Oh, and just curious though, why are you asking?"

"…No reason." he smiled and went back to his lunch.

And then Roxas stopped denying, and just went with the flow. He stopped worrying about what Axel would think, and before he knew it, sophomore year ended, and their junior year began.

Roxas' feelings for Axel didn't go away, but they grew instead. But he pretended that all was well with him despite how he felt towards the red head.

To his blue eyes, Axel was more than just a friend. But to Axel's, he was probably just a friend.

And then, half way through their junior year of high school, Axel jumped a question on him. It wasn't just _a_ question. It was…a _question. _If you get the difference.

"Do you like me?"

"Yeah, sure. We're friends right?" he replied almost immediately, as though he had been expecting this or something.

"No, I meant, do you _like_ me."

Roxas stared at his best friend and wondered if he had heard correctly. And when he was sure that Axel was not at all joking in the least, he considered the question and answered as truthfully as he could.

"…No, I don't _like_ you." It was half true. He didn't _like_ Axel.

"Oh, ok." He seemed to deflate a little, "For a second there I thought-"

"Well, you thought wrong." He hadn't meant to bite back, it just came out. And Axel seemed surprised by the tone that Roxas had with him.

When did he become such a bitch and everything? Roxas didn't remember. But really, he hadn't meant it that way. He hadn't meant to sound so…bitchy.

And well, his bitchiness and stupidity was gonna end up costing him a friend one day.

But everything between them was ok again after that. They both pretended that the conversation never happened, and once again they were best friends.

Roxas still wouldn't stop staring at Axel whenever he had the chance, and sometimes, he would catch Axel staring back at him, and then one of them would make a stupid face to each other and then they would laugh about it.

They were best friends, always have been, always will.

And then their junior year ended, and their senior year began, and before they knew it, they graduated from high school and stepped out into the big world of college and university.

It was in the middle of their end of year holidays, and Roxas was on his way over to Axel's house. Play some games, watch some TV, gamble a bit of their part time work pays away in a good round or two of poker.

That was the plan, even though it wasn't quite planned out officially. It's not like Axel was ever bothered before.

They always went to each other's houses unannounced all the time.

Except, maybe today, wasn't such a good idea. There were boxes in front of the house on the yard and Roxas wondered what was going on as he stepped closer. And then he saw Axel coming out of the house with another box in hand.

"Axel?"

The red head turned and smiled, "Hey Rox, what's up? If you wanna play on the playstation, too bad, 'cause I packed it up somewhere."

"…Is someone…moving out?" he asked with a bit of dread as he threaded carefully on the lawn.

"Yeah." And placed the box on top of the other and stretched with a soft grunt, and only after it popped three times, did he continue, "Me."

"You're moving out? Where?" he panicked slightly, for reasons he didn't know why.

But he just didn't want Axel to go. Axel was supposed to be his best friend. They were supposed to be inseparable as best friends! Isn't that like…an unwritten rule?!

"Dunno," he shrugged, "I figured I should just go where the road takes me I guess."

"Oh…" he watched as Axel walked back into the house and came out seconds later with another box. Why did he feel so heartbroken about it, "Congrats I guess." He tried to seem happy, really he did, but the stab in his heart just wouldn't let him pretend.

"Thanks," he grinned as he placed the box down onto the grass, "Dem's helping me move, I already stuffed my car up to the brim." He spoke as he motioned to his black Honda Accord Euro R with customized wheels and a fire tattoo on the sides. It was a sweet ride.

Of course Axel wouldn't ask Roxas for help, he didn't have a license _or_ a car.

"Oh, ok, then, do you…need help?" he offered anyway, even though he was a bit reluctant.

"Nah, I'm all good."

"Ah, ok then." He replied and tried to keep the tone of dejection out of his voice, "I guess…I'll see you later. Since you're busy and everything." He shrugged as nonchalantly as possible before he turned and walked away.

This was gonna be his last time ever seeing the red head ever again…he never told Axel how he felt, and he never will...but why was he so eager to just leave? Roxas wasn't sure.

"Hey Rox?"

He stopped walking and turned around, "Yeah…?"

"I have a question for you." He spoke as he walked up to the blond and leaned down until they were eye to eye.

"Yeah…?" he tried not to seem too overly curious.

"Do you like me?" he asked again. And this time, Roxas knew what he was after.

And again, he replied as truthfully as he could, "No, I don't like you."

Axel frowned, "Then why are you-"

"I love you..." It barely came off as a whisper.

For a moment, the red head just stared in a mixed expression of shock and surprise before the frown returned again, "It took until I was moving out for you to say that?"

The blond swallowed his next words, looked away and tried to leave.

"Hey, we're not done yet." He reached out and grabbed the blonds' elbow but he continued walking.

"Yes we are," he tried to keep his voice from choking. Axel was leaving, and there was no stopping him.

"No we're not," he pulled the blonds' elbow and made him stop, "Why does it take you until I'm moving out for you to tell me?" he asked again.

"I wasn't thinking!" he cried out, made sure that his back was turned and the red head couldn't see the emotions that were clearly written on his face, the betrayal, the hurt, the heartbreak, "I didn't know! How was I supposed to know?! I don't know ok?!"

"Ok, ok, chill. Don't blow up on me." His hold on Roxas' elbow loosened slightly and the blond tried to walk away again.

His cheeks were flushed with anger and embarrassment, "It doesn't matter anymore, you're leaving."

"Well, yeah, but we can still see each other."

'Don't get my hopes up.' He pleaded in his head, "Not gonna be easy when you're miles away…" he grumbled out and just _wished_ Axel would just let go.

Axel frowned just as Demyx pulled up the curb and hopped out of his car, "Yo! I'm here to help!" he announced and when his greeting fell on deaf ears, he looked back and forth the blond and the red head in confusion, "Guys…?"

"Hey Rox."

Roxas fought the urge to let out an exasperated sigh, "…What…?" he had hoped he didn't sound so bitchy either.

Axel pulled the blonds' elbow and leaned in closer until his mouth was right next to Roxas' ear, "I love you too."

And then he snapped, snatched his arm back and turned to yell at the red head, "Then why are you moving away from me?!"

Axel seemed a little taken aback by the sudden outburst, "I wanted a bit more freedom."

"Fine!" he threw his arms up in the air in defeat, "Go! I don't care!" he almost stomped away in fury when Axel grabbed his arm yet again and held onto it firmly as Roxas tried to pry the fingers away.

"Roxas."

The blond let out a tired and heartbroken sigh, then calmed down. Really, he just wanted to go home, and sleep for the rest of the holidays, "What…" he just didn't care anymore.

"Do you wanna help me move to my apartment?"

'Apartment?' had he heard right? "Apartment?" he repeated as he turned around to look at Axel.

"Yeah," he smiled, "My very own slice of real estate. My own apartment. Freedom."

"An…apartment?" he repeated, "Not miles away?"

Axel laughed, Roxas loved that laugh, "No fucking way man," And the foul mouth to go with it, "So, what d'ya say?"

The blond nodded, and felt the corners of his lips turn up into a smile, "Ok, sure."

"Cool." The red head leaned in closer and their lips finally met in a kiss.

Then the kiss turned into something more passionate and eventually, they were making out in the front yard.

"Um…guys?" and Demyx was left forgotten…

* * *

Phew! My God that was wonderfully horrendous! Hope you all liked! Especially you Jess. Lawls. Happy Birthday again!! Omedetou!! WOOT!

Poor Demy boy.


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